Apprentice to get graduation style ceremonies

Ministers plan to introduce graduation-style award ceremonies and alumni networks for apprenticeships, amid concerns about their quality.

There has been a rapid increase in the number of apprenticeships in England in recent years, with successive governments urging young people to consider them instead of university.

But there are concerns about quality, with some as short as three months.

The government says it plans to set out steps to safeguard standards shortly.

The Association of Learning Providers has complained that apprenticeship programmes as short as 12-weeks were being marketed, leading to questions about whether quality can be assured in such a short time-scale.

And a review of all short apprentices is being carried out by the National Apprenticeship Service.